


the way we should've

by eunseo



Series: a little sunshine never hurt anybody (Johnny-centric) [2]
Category: Graceland (TV)
Genre: Cuddle Pile, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-10 04:35:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2011110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eunseo/pseuds/eunseo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Johnny requests a transfer without telling anyone, and the team asks for forgiveness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the way we should've

In the two weeks since Johnny had filed a transfer form, he had started packing. Not enough to make it obvious to the others, only putting the bigger stuff in boxes, and actually cleaning his clothes and putting them away so it'd be easier to pack them up once the time came. When he walked into the laundry room twice in a week, Charlie stared at him quizzically, but thankfully didn't ask about it. He'd started locking up his room so no one would walk in and see that he'd actually started using his cabinets, the picture-less walls, and the boxes piled in one corner of the room.

Three weeks after taking up the job of checking the mail, a response arrived.

"Yo, JT, whatcha got there? You look like you just won the lottery," Briggs asked, sitting at the breakfast bar.

"It's nothing, Briggs. Listen, I'll come down for breakfast in a little, I forgot something," he rushed upstairs, the letter held tightly in his hand.

"What's up with him?" asked Briggs.

Charlie shrugged. "Kid's been acting weird for a while now. He's even doing his own laundry."

"No shit?"

  
+

  
Agent John Tuturro,

We are sorry to inform you that your transfer request has been declined...

  
+

  
Johnny stared down at the letter, rereading the same line over and over again not realizing that his hands were trembling until the shaking made the words blur together. He crumpled up the letter and threw it across the room. His fingers came up to his face as he rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Johnny," Mike called from outside the room. 

"What?"

"You coming down for breakfast or what?" The doorknob shook as Mike tried to open the door. "Hey, you alright in there?"

"I'm fine. Not hungry, though," Johnny yelled from his spot on the bed.

"You sure?"

"I'm fine, Mike, just go!" He threw the thing closest next to him- a pillow- towards the door, sighing in relief when he heard Mike's footsteps leading away from his door.

Words rang in his head: _burnout, lazyass, childish_ blocking out all other sounds, the words imprinted behind his eyelids.

He grabbed his surfing gear, forgetting to lock his bedroom door, and left, slamming the door on his way out.

"Seriously, what's gotten into him?" Briggs asked.

"Who knows? Since Zelanski left, he's in his room more often than not," Paige replied.

Briggs nodded thoughtfully then headed to the second floor.

"Briggs, where are you going?" 

"His room, I'm gonna see what he's hiding in there."

"He's probably been locking himself in his room so you guys would stay out of his business," Jakes murmured.

"No secrets at Graceland!" 

Briggs reached Johnny's room, opening the door. He was surprised to see a tidy room with near-bare walls and a few boxes stacked on top of one another in one corner of the room. He looked around, and spotted a piece of crumpled paper near the (empty) bookshelf. An opened envelope lay on the bed, and upon seeing who it was from, Briggs went to retrieve the crumpled up letter without hesitation, skimming over its contents.

  
+

  
The waves crashed down around Johnny as he fell from his board. He resurfaced quickly, smiling to himself as he sat on his board, rocking slightly as smaller waves passed. He found that surfing always calmed him down, and although he was upset about the transfer denial, he was glad he wouldn't have to leave the beach days behind him. He loved walking on sand and feeling the warm water lap against his leg, and he loved surfing, catching waves and knowing he could always get back up when he fell. He loved feeling the sun against his skin, and loved falling asleep to the sounds of waves crashing against the shore. 

He remembered surfing with Zelanski when he was there, before he left without saying goodbye. It was nice surfing with someone who wasn't Briggs, who stopped knowing what "fun" meant about two weeks after Mike left to D.C, or Paige, who could never just sit and breathe and feel the waves beneath the board. Zelanski knew when to surf and when to breathe, and Johnny loved that about him: loved that he knew what Johnny wanted without having to ask him. 

Johnny looked out at the ocean for a while longer, basking in the calm and the feeling of belonging, before going back to the house. 

When he went back in the house, he found the house members all sitting in the living room, talking amongst themselves. Johnny shrugged to himself and started to walk back to his bedroom when Paige spotted him.

"Why didn't you tell us you asked for a transfer?" she asked with a hurt expression.

"I don't see why it matters if they rejected it," he replied blankly.

"Johnny, we're your family, how could you not tell us you were planning on leaving?" Charlie asked.

Johnny chuckled bitterly. "Oh, I see what's going on... So ya'll can use me like a punching bag and tell me that I'm not as good as the rest of the team, but when I ask for a transfer, I'm betraying you guys?" Jakes looked down at his hands and Mike hung his head in shame.

"Johnny, we-" Paige started, rising from her chair.

"Unless ya'll need me for a case or the house is on fire, don't knock on my door," he finished angrily, walking to his bedroom without looking back.

The rest of the group sat in stunned silence. Of course they'd noticed that Johnny had been more kept to himself lately and they'd been aware that they were mistreating him, always using him as an outlet for their frustrations, but they'd always expected him to be there, to be the same Johnny, always making jokes and laughing. At this point though, they realized that though they always meant to apologize, they never got around to it. One by one, their expressions turned horrified as they realized they had all been taking Johnny for granted.

"We fucked up bad," Charlie said quietly, looking around at all their faces.

  
+

  
Johnny was laying on his bed, the toy robot Zelanski left him in his hands when someone knocked on the door.

"Johnny, can we come in?" Mike's voice sounded from outside the room. 

Johnny stood up from his bed with a weary sigh. "What do you want?" he asked, opening the door.

"We want to say sorry," Briggs said.

Johnny crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "Go ahead."

And all at once, they started apologizing. 

"We've been shitty workmates and even shittier friends-"

"You mean the world to us, Johnny, we really didn't mean to-"

"Sometimes we get angry, but that's not an excuse-"

"You're just as valuable as the rest-"

"I'm sorry I hit you. Twice."

Johnny tilted his head, and his lips quirked up slightly. 

"What we mean to say-" Paige started.

"-is that we really appreciate you and we're sorry we haven't shown it as of late. You're a great friend and a great agent and we'll treat you as such. The way we should've done," Mike finished.

"That's all I wanted to hear. Thank you," Johnny said, uncrossing his arms and smiling brighter than he had since Zelanski left.

There may or may not have been a cuddle pile on Johnny's bed (there was).

 

 


End file.
